Apple document brags iPhone set the tone for trade show company did not attend

An internal Apple document entered into evidence on Wednesday touts the iPhone's "quiet" presence at the 3GSM Congress Trade Show in 2007, an event at which the company didn't even have a booth.

The document, first reported by CNet, was presented by Samsung at the Apple v. Samsung trial in an effort to show that Apple looked to other company's handsets in making its iPhone design choices.

In the presentation, Apple points out a number of quotes from executives at high-powered companies like Vodafone and Orange, all of which put the iPhone in a good light. For example, the CEO of Vonage was quoted as sayng, "The iPhone launch is embarrassing for the mobile industry as it got more publicity than any handset got in the last 10 years...and its not even on the market yet."

Taken from the same slide, titled "iPhone present, but not present ," are bullet points touting the impact the handset had on the convention despite not making an appearance.

From the slide:

Although Apple was not present showcasing the iPhone, we were quietly setting the tone and were mentioned in each media, operator and handset vendor discussion

Everybody guessing what the iPhone business model or European operator support is

All operators giving very positive comments as they do not want to spill their chances
of ranging the iPhone

GSM Association regrets that Apple didnt announce the iPhone at the 3GSM World Congress 2007 or even have a presence with a booth

1 in 10 words during the 4 days trade show were either iPhone, Apple or DRM

Among the subsequent pages were wrap-up reports for the various smartphone manufacturers who attended the trade show, including Motorola, RIM and Samsung. Of particular interest was a side-by-side dimensions comparison of the much contested Samsung F700 and the iPhone, although the slide did not draw any conclusions or offer recommendations as to how to make Apple's device more like the Korean company's unit.

The Apple presentation is vaguely similar to an internal Samsung document which also showed side-by-side comparisons of the iPhone and the Galaxy S, though that report was a comprehensive 132-page study of the two devices' differences. Many of the slides in the Samsung document offered suggestions to change various UI features to be more like the iPhone, however it does not serve as a smoking gun for Apple's attorneys as they still have to prove willful trade dress infringement.

Interesting document. It's a company briefing on the trade show, with slides on all the major manufacturer phone releases, and a size comparison of the iPhone with the F700, the iPhone with the LG Prada, and the iPod Nano with the F300.

It doesn't at all resemble the Samsung document that dissected the differences between the iPhone and the SII and gave detailed recommendations on how to make the SII more like the iPhone.

It does give a fascinating insight into at least some of the corporate thinking at Apple, with not even a hint that Apple wants to copy anything. This is evidence that Samsung submitted?

Some are all beauty, sex appeal and no brains (meaning no outstanding features). The new LG Prada and Shine, Motorola KRZR K3, and Samsung U300 are perfect examples.

LOL.

So Samsung wants to admit as evidence that Apple was doing research on the mobile phone market to understand how best to enter it? And this document was from AFTER they'd already finalized and announced the iPhone. And this is in contrast to Samsung's internal document showing how they could improve future, unannounced handsets to make them follow Apple's lead? Samsung, what are you doing? :(

Oh, and don't read this document unless you want to relive the nightmare of handsets before the iPhone. It's truly scary what we put up with for too long.

Samsung really is scraping the bottom of the barrel here. And their legal team is hopeless; Apple's lawyers already stated that the F700 does not infringe, so why do they keep bringing it up as a comparison? Unless they're claiming that the iPhone is infringing on the F700 design, which is not only a totally different matter, it also has already been disproved in earlier proceedings.

Samsung really is scraping the bottom of the barrel here. And their legal team is hopeless; Apple's lawyers already stated that the F700 does not infringe, so why do they keep bringing it up as a comparison? Unless they're claiming that the iPhone is infringing on the F700 design, which is not only a totally different matter, it also has already been disproved in earlier proceedings.

I think they're trying to claim prior art, despite the F700 being announced and coming to market after the iPhone's announcement and coming to market, respectively. Or they're trying to prove Apple's design is an obvious design the market was moving towards, for the umpteenth time negating the fact that Apple design patent is about a lot of specific design details culminating in one broad design choice.

Disclaimer: I don't have all the fact so I don't know, I'm only speculating. And I'm definitely not taking a side on this case for two reasons: (1) I don't have enough information to make a decision as a juror would be able to and nor do I care to do enough research to obtain that information because (2) this case is about older models that Samsung has moved away from design-wise and no matter which side wins, the penalty to the other side will hardly be impactful to either's bottom line for more than a single fiscal quarter or two.

This document proves... what, exactly? Just like with all the other shit Samsung has shown to demonstrate that Apple looks at the competition, all meaningless FUD meant to confuse and a desperate attempt at LOOK THEY DO IT TOO!

This is a backdoor way to introduce the F700, hopefully Apple's lawyers have enough sense not to fall into the trap by making any reference to it's appearance, which could open up a whole new line of questioning to Samsung's team.